Empire of Blue Water

Captain Morgan's Great Pirate Army, the Epic Battle for the Americas, and the Catastrophe That Ended the Oulaws' Bloody Reign

Random House, Inc.He challenged the greatest empire on earth with a ragtag bunch of renegades—and brought it to its knees. Empire of Blue Water is the real story of the pirates of the Caribbean.

Henry Morgan, a twenty-year-old Welshman, crossed the Atlantic in 1655, hell-bent on making his fortune. Over the next three decades, his exploits in the Caribbean in the service of the English became legendary. His daring attacks on the mighty Spanish Empire on land and at sea determined the fates of kings and queens, and his victories helped shape the destiny of the New World.

Morgan gathered disaffected European sailors and soldiers, hard-bitten adventurers, runaway slaves, and vicious cutthroats, and turned them into the most feared army in the Western Hemisphere. Sailing out from the English stronghold of Port Royal, Jamaica, “the wickedest city in the New World,” Morgan and his men terrorized Spanish merchant ships and devastated the cities where great riches in silver, gold, and gems lay waiting. His last raid, a daring assault on the fabled city of Panama, helped break Spain’s hold on the Americas forever.

Awash with bloody battles, political intrigues, natural disaster, and a cast of characters more compelling, bizarre, and memorable than any found in a Hollywood swashbuckler—including the notorious pirate L’Ollonais, the soul-tortured King Philip IV of Spain, and Thomas Modyford, the crafty English governor of Jamaica—Empire of Blue Water brilliantly re-creates the passions and the violence of the age of exploration and empire.

Baker & TaylorChronicles the real-life adventures of Welsh pirate Henry Morgan and his exploits in the Caribbean in the service of the English, from his attacks on Spanish merchant ships to his final assault on Panama that ended Spanish domination of the New World.

Blackwell North AmerHe challenged the greatest empire on earth with a ragtag bunch of renegades - and brought it to its knees. Empire of Blue Water is the real story of the pirates of the Caribbean.Henry Morgan, a twenty-year-old Welshman, crossed the Atlantic in 1655, hell-bent on making his fortune. Over the next three decades, his exploits in the Caribbean in the service of the English became legendary. His daring attacks on the mighty Spanish Empire on land and at sea determined the fates of kings and queens, and his victories helped shape the destiny of the New World.Morgan gathered disaffected European sailors and soldiers, hard-bitten adventurers, runaway slaves, and vicious cutthroats, and turned them into the most feared army in the Western Hemisphere. Sailing out from the English stronghold of Port Royal, Jamaica, "the wickedest city in the New World," Morgan and his men terrorized Spanish merchant ships and devastated the cities where great riches in silver, gold, and gems lay waiting. His last raid, a daring assault on the fabled city of Panama, helped break Spain's hold on the Americas forever.Awash with bloody battles, political intrigues, natural disaster, and a cast of characters more compelling, bizarre, and memorable than any found in a Hollywood swashbuckler - including the notorious pirate L'Ollonais, the soul-tortured King Philip IV of Spain, and Thomas Modyford, the crafty English governor of Jamaica - Empire of Blue Water re-creates the passions and the violence of the age of exploration and empire.

Baker & TaylorThe author of Mulatto America chronicles the real-life, swashbuckling adventures of Welsh pirate Henry Morgan and his exploits in the Caribbean in the service of the English, from his attacks on Spanish merchant ships and raids on wealthy cities of the region to his final assault on Panama that ended Spanish domination of the New World. 100,000 first printing.The real story of the pirates of the Caribbean. Henry Morgan, a twenty-year-old Welshman, crossed the Atlantic in 1655, hell-bent on making his fortune. Over the next three decades, his exploits in the Caribbean as a privateer in the service of the English became legendary. His daring attacks on the mighty Spanish Empire on land and at sea determined the fates of kings and queens, and his victories helped shape the destiny of the New World. Morgan gathered disaffected European sailors and soldiers, hard-bitten adventurers, runaway slaves, and vicious cutthroats, and turned them into the most feared army in the Western Hemisphere. They terrorized Spanish merchant ships and devastated the cities where great riches in silver, gold, and gems lay waiting. Hislast raid, a daring assault on the fabled city of Panama, helped break Spain's hold on the Americas forever.--From publisher description.

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A wonderfully readable non-fiction account of piracy, buccaneering, privateering, and politics in the Caribbean from 1665-1700. Henry Morgan and his men rampaged from Jamaica’s Port Royal, ‘the wickedest city in the new world’ all across the Spanish Main. This is the real story of the Pirates of the Caribbean so bloody, daring, and outlandish that no fiction comes close to the reality. No ship, port, or inland city for that matter was safe from an attack by these ‘booty’ hungry and bloodthirsty renegades. A truly fascinating history of political intrigue and empire building in the Caribbean during the age of exploration.